1. Field
Embodiments relate to a method, system, and computer program product for configuring an attribute for propagating management datagrams in a switchless network.
2. Background
In a computer network a plurality of devices may communicate with a plurality of other devices. In many situations the devices are interconnected via a plurality of switches, where a switch is a computer networking device that connects the plurality of devices together in a computer network, by using packet switching to receive, process and forward data from a source device to the destination device via zero or more intermediate devices. Therefore, the switches may logically configure communication links between the plurality of devices with physical links being located between the switch and each device. Such a network that uses switches may be referred to as a switched computer network.
In contrast, in switchless computer networks, the plurality of devices are connected via dedicated links that do not includes switches. A device may receive a packet from one device and forward the packet to another device. As a result, a source device may be able to communicate with a destination device in switchless computer networks via one or more intermediate devices.
A subnet is a logical, visible subdivision of an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The practice of dividing a network into two or more networks is called subnetting. Computers, devices, and/or nodes that belong to a subnet are addressed via a common, identical, most-significant bit-group in their IP address. In a packet switched network (e.g., an IP network), a datagram is a basic data transfer unit. A datagram may be a self-contained, independent entity of data carrying sufficient information to be routed from the source to the destination computer without reliance on earlier exchanges between the source and the destination computer and the transporting network. The delivery, arrival time, and order of arrival does may not have to be guaranteed by the packet switched network.
InfiniBand* is a computer-networking communications standard that may be used in a computer network for communication among a plurality of devices. Further details of InfiniBand may be found in the publication “InfiniBand Architecture, Specification Volume 1, Release 1.3”, published Mar. 3, 2015 by the InfiniBand Trade Association, and the publication is hereinafter referred to as the “InfiniBand standard”. The InfiniBand standard provides further descriptions for formats associated with datagrams, subnets, and other entities of a packet switched network. The InfiniBand standard defines a format for management messages which supports common processing, where the management messages are referred to as management datagrams (MAD). Each management datagram contains the same header format that identifies the class of a management message and the method. In the InfiniBand standard, the management datagrams used for administration of a subnet are described. Subnet administration uses particular formats for management datagrams, and such management datagrams are referred to as subnet administration management datagrams. *InfiniBand is a registered trademark of the InfiniBand Trade Association.